Feeder roaches haven't made babies

[ArachnaeEsoterica]

Look if the little <edit> don't reproduce than what are they sitting there for. I've been feeding them an occasional veggie and they have fish food for days! I only noticed their shells darkening.

 

[Trenor]

It's hard to tell from the photo but I don't think any of those are full adults. I didn't see any males. You should look up a guide online. Good luck.

 

[Sarkhan42]

None of these are adults, and therefore aren't going to be reproducing. It's gonna be a little while, especially if they are dubia like they appear.

 

[cold blood]

I've only been keeping them for a few months, but IMO fruits/veggies should be a consistent offering, not an occasional one. Oranges in particular can be a breeding trigger from what I have been told by a breeder. They also require very warm temps to reproduce, at least 80, preferred closer to 90 or more. As for the fish flakes, that's not enough base, I have the entire floor covered in dog kibble like its substrate.

Even then, under good conditions, it can still take months for the breeding process to get rolling, especially if they still need to mature.

 

[EulersK]

I'm sure that fruits/veggies help the breeding process, but I have never once offered fresh food. I have offered nothing but pig and/or chick feed for almost two years, and I have a thriving colony. When you have a starter colony like you have, you should be leaving it completely alone for about 6 months before it's a viable colony. Longer, considering you have no breeding adults yet.

A heatmat is optional, but it will make them breed and mature MUCH quicker.

You've got nothing but subadults there - I don't see a single mature dubia. You've got a ways to go, man. If that was sold to you as a "starter colony", then I'd be asking for a refund. While unlikely, it's entirely possible that you have 100% males or 100% females... either way, you're in bad shape. The male to female ratio should hover around 1-5 (one male for every five females). I've observed a roughly 50-50 ratio, meaning you have a terrible starter colony. If your male ratio is too high, they'll actually fight and interrupt the mating process, meaning they will breed even slower.

Exoskeletons darkening means that they are entering premolt, just like tarantulas. So they're growing, but you'll have zero breeding until you have a mature male and a mature female. However, just like tarantulas, you can have bad molts and random deaths... which is why, once again, this is a terrible starter colony. A true starter colony should have included a couple males with about 7-10 females, all mature.

 

[ArachnaeEsoterica]

Underside shot for gender identifications. there should be 8 individuals in there. Guess I'm gonna have to up and buy more.

Edit: this is a terrible picture. My own eyes also say 50-50. When time comes I'll buy another batch, feed off the males and put the females in the colony.

 

[louise f]

This is how they look when they are mature.

 

[louise f]

Oranges in particular can be a breeding trigger from what I have been told by a breeder.

That is true, the males go mating nuts when having oranges. I feed mine oranges once a week. So roach sex orgie it is

 

[Trenor]

Underside shot for gender identifications. there should be 8 individuals in there. Guess I'm gonna have to up and buy more.

I would just order a starter colony online. There is a guy on the classifieds here that has a pretty good deal on starter colonies.

 

[ArachnaeEsoterica]

They're big and this isn't considered an adult size?

 

[Sarkhan42]

They're big and this isn't considered an adult size?

Here's another illustration, they are not adults yet. Males are super easy to tell as they don't have the wings yet. Once they molt mature they'll display characteristic traits like the wings and are somewhat different in appearance for the females. They may be similar in size, as up until ultimate molt the nymphs still look the same as they did when they were small, minus some wing "stub" growth.

 

[Jacob Ma]

To tell the sex of a larger nymph, the males have longer wing stubs (right below the head) that resemble v's, while the females have wing stubs that are more shaped like right angles. However, this method only works when they are in the nymph stage right before the adult stage (they are around an inch long, adults can grow to 1.5-2 inches). It may appear at first that the nymphs are all females, but if you give them some time, you should see males. Also note that males grow and live considerably shorter lives than females.

Males should also appear slightly more slender than females, and the males also have more abdominal segments (the little lines that form an armored plating after the wings) than the females do.

Source: entnemdept.ufl.edu
Male..............................................................................................Female

It may not appear exactly the same, but the two corkscrew looking things called the cerci on the male usually point more outward and the abdominal plate forms a more triangular shape than the female, which has more forward-pointing cerci and two additional styluses accompanied by a rounder abdominal plate. Unfortunately, there's not much more to than this.

 

[TarantulasWorld]

You seem to have young roaches. its gonna take a bit for them to become adults and then you can see them start to grow. I would recommend maybe try adding a piece of orange in their enclosure for them to feast on and increasing their temperature to something warmer

 

[EulersK]

Wow, a lot of great info on here. Here's another tidbit: Mature males are actually smaller than the older juveniles. Just like tarantulas, it's the females that are massive. The males are sleek, skinny, and fast... as they should be.

 

[peterUK]

I'm sure that fruits/veggies help the breeding process, but I have never once offered fresh food. I have offered nothing but pig and/or chick feed for almost two years, and I have a thriving colony. When you have a starter colony like you have, you should be leaving it completely alone for about 6 months before it's a viable colony. Longer, considering you have no breeding adults yet.

A heatmat is optional, but it will make them breed and mature MUCH quicker..

Well said that MAN ! (or lady)

Ive ever only used dry food which I then ground up into powder using a coffee grinder .
I started with kitten kibble, then mixed it with wholemeal flour. After a few years i moved to chicken layers mash (not sure of the US name but its broken up seeds etc) and now Im using chick crumb.
The colony may get a banana, apple or orange once a month if they are lucky and if there is any remaining in the house from the previous weeks grocery shopping. From memory the colony has had two bananas and one small orange this year so far. Moisture is from water crystals (bug gel?) that i buy on ebay by the kg
I have a small heatmat under the tub without a thermostat fitted.


I have set up all these roach colonies exactly the same way and in all cases the numbers have rocketed within months with no disturbances (except for feeding)

100 dubia of mixed sexes and sizes to this in 5 months > > >

50 adult red runners and 5 months later . . > > >

I started with 22 adult elliptorhina javanica and got this amount in around 4 months > > > >

 

[EulersK]

I believe I'm a man. Pretty sure, at least.

I've found that chick feed is by far the best to use. They don't seem to enjoy the pig feed very much, although they'll still eat it if nothing else is offered. I've also found that they simply grow much larger when fed chick feed. I completely avoid any moist foods whatsoever as to avoid mold.

Gotta say man, that middle video made my skin crawl. Good god.

 

[Lucanus95]

View attachment 208392

This is how they look when they are mature.

The one on the right is a subadult male.

 

[Lucanus95]

Looks like people are thinking that these are dubias. What you have there is a Blaberus species. Most likely a hybrid between B. discoidalis and one of atropos group. Adults of both sexes in this species have large wings.

 

[Hisserdude]

I agree with @Lucanus95, these are Blaberus nymphs, not Blaptica.

 

[ArachnaeEsoterica]

All of those roaches are madness! They won't populate my house if I find escapees right?!